Holocaust Rescuers Bibliography: Books About Holocaust Heroes

Whosoever saves a single life, saves the world entire...

The Holocaust is a history of overwhelming horror and
enduring sorrow. Sometimes it seems as though there is
no spark of human concern or kindness, no act of
humanity, to lighten that dark history. Yet there were
acts of courage and kindness during the Holocaust that
can offer us some solace about our past and hope for
our future. Archives such as those of the United States Holocaust
Museum contain records of rescuers and those whom
they saved; Yad
Vashem, in Jerusalem, has honored tens of thousands of
Holocaust heroes, and many additional cases await their
consideration.

This partially-annotated bibliography lists works in English which
discuss the lives and actions of these rescuers during the Holocaust, and recount their amazing stories. Individuals, groups, and in the case of Denmark,
almost an entire country, reached out. Bulgaria
was also active in protecting its Jewish
population.

Rescuers such as Andre
Trocmé, the minister and spiritual leader of the
French village of Le Chambon, probably fit most
closely to our stereotypes of those who will
help. Trocmé was clearly motivated by ethical and
religious convictions. Yet many others, who could have
been expected to hold similar beliefs, failed to
act. Less expected is an Oskar
Schindler, the opportunistic businessman who made a
fortune using Jewish slave labor—and spent that fortune
again to save the lives of those in his factory. What
did they have in common?

What was it that led some people to reach out and
help others, while most of the population around them
were bystanders? What was it, about individuals and societies,
that led them to act on behalf of strangers? Perhaps,
if we can begin to answer these questions, we can start
to build societies in which there are more rescuers and fewer bystanders, and in which genocide is less likely
to occur.

This book recounts the story of five Lithuanian Jewish families who escaped Kovno Ghetto and were ultimately hidden—and saved—by a Catholic farm family.
Beasley draws from personal interviews, research and numerous memoirs.

This graphic memoir was written by a Jewish woman who was helped by her Catholic boyfriend during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and survived underground in Rotterdam for the duration of the war.

An excellent introduction to the
history of the Holocaust, praised by Chaim Potok as “a vital
guide” that “merits the widest of
audiences.” ’The Last Chapter’ reviews rescuers
and rescue attempts as well as the liberation of the camps. Very useful
bibliographic notes and references.

This oversize almost-coffee-table
book contains brief narratives from 49 European rescuers. Each chapter
opens with photos of the rescuer from the time of the war, plus a short
narrative or interview, followed by Block's full-page color portrait.

ten Boom, Corrie with John and Elizabeth
Sherill. The
Hiding Place New York: Bantam, 1974.

Corrie ten Boom was a devout
Christian whose family rescued Jews in Holland during the war. Her
narrative memoir, written with the help of John and Elizabeth Sherill,
is a classic work, especially beloved by other Christians, who find in
ten Boom someone who truly embodied the ideals of their faith.

One of the few books available about rescue in Norway. In
sharp contrast to the infamous Nazi doctors in Germany, Norway's
physicians were instrumental in leading the rescue efforts there. For more on
rescue in Norway, see Abrahamsen.

Flaim, Richard, et al. (Eds.) The
Holocaust and Genocide: A Search for Conscience. 2 volumes, 2nd
edition. New York: Anti-defamation League of B’nai Brith,
1986.Curriculum guide and anthology on the Holocaust with units on rescue.

An account of the most successful
collective rescue effort in Europe. When the Nazis attempted to deport
Denmark's Jews, the Danes united to save over 90% of the Jewish
population by ferrying them to safety in Sweden.

This slim volume by one of Holland's
leading Holocaust historians uses lively quotations taken from
interviews with people who worked to save Jewish children. Meticulously
reseached, it conveys an accurate picture of the situation the rescuers
faced, the dangers they endured, their goals and hopes, and
their postwar feelings about what they did and, sometimes, what they
were unable to do.

A social psychologist and former
director of the Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers, Dr. Fogelman
presents many short vignettes about individuals who risked their lives
to rescue Jews throughout Europe. Drawing on the research she conducted
for her doctoral dissertation, she classifies the rescuers into five
categories based on their motivations, and examines how the act of
rescuing affected the rescuers’ self-image and identity, both during
and after the war.

The only book we have found in English about this Portuguese counsel to France who used his diplomatic privileges to issue visas that saved thousands of lives. Sadly, he was condemned after the war for doing so. Still, Dr. Mendes insisted, “I prefer to be with God against one man, than with one man against God”. For more information about Mendes, click here.

This was one of the first books
about the rescuers, the result of ten years of research involving early
interviews with both rescuers and survivors. Currently out of print, though some copies may be found in libraries or are available through used book dealers.

Subtitled: "The gripping story of Rabbi Weissmandl, the valiant Holocaust leader who battled both Allied indifference and Nazi hatred." An unusual account of a rabbi who tried to stop the trains to Auschwitz.

I'd have to say that this falls into the eulogistic
school of rescuer accounts, portraying the rescuers as inspiring heroes
in a two-dimensional kind of way. Yet, I'd recommend it for children,
especially considering that some of the other accounts geared toward
juvenile readers (Opdyke's In My Hands for instance) include
content such as the protagonist exchanging sex for the
continued safety of her Jewish charges.

Publishers Weekly describes this
book as a “comprehensive examination by a noted historian, recounted
largely through first-person accounts by the Jews they rescued....
These thumbnail sketches of rescuers, their methods and, in some cases,
the horrors they endured as a result of their courageous choices
haven't previously been gathered in one volume.” Walter Laquer writing
for the New York Times finds that the book is strong on
breadth but weak on depth, noting only brief entries for each rescuer,
and almost no interpretation.

An interdisciplinary collection
of essays, including first-person accounts, which explore the question
of why the Danes risked their lives to rescue their Jewish population.
The effect, according to Dennis B. Klein, is to “show in unique fashion
the preconditions, or the possibilities, of collective courage.”

“Good, the son of two Holocaust survivors . . . informs us that Karl Plagge, a German army officer, saved his mother and more than 250 other Jews . . . . His primary method of resistance against the genocide was to give work permits to Jews, allowing them to save themselves and their families from the aktions that swept the Vilna ghettos.”—Booklist

A brilliantly orchestrated
account of those who rescued Jews in Hitler's Berlin. The Los Angeles Times describes it as a “tour de force,” likening the writing style to that of Truman Capote in his nonfiction novelIn Cold Blood.

In this well-documented and
authoritative book, Gushee explores the full range of Gentile responses
to the plight of the Jews from overt hostility and obscene brutality to
altruistic rescue, the better to understand the achievements of truly
righteous Gentiles.

Gushee, David P. The Righteous
Gentiles of the Holocaust: A Christian Interpretation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994.

One of the truly enduring
works about the rescuers, this book follows Professor Hallie's quest to
understand how the small Protestant village of Le Chambon could have quietly
and peacefully saved the lives of thousands of Jewish people. A very
thoughtful and heartfelt approach, though one that is more focused on philosophical and
ethical considerations than history per se.

Halter, Marek. La force du Bien
Paris: Robert Laffont, 1995.

This book was released after the
movie Tsedek that Halter did
on the subject.

Halter, Michael. Stories of
Deliverance: Speaking with Men and Women who Rescued Jews from the
Holocaust. Peru,
IL: Carus Publishing Co., 1998.

Hanser, Richard. A Noble Treason:
The Revolt of the Munich Students against Hitler. New York:
Putnam, 1979.

This book reports on the anti-Hitler activities of certain German students, including the members of the White Rose group, who tried to influence the German public to reject the Nazi agenda.

“For nine months prior to World
War II, Britain conducted an extraordinary rescue mission, opening its
doors to 10,000 children at risk from the Nazi regime—ninety per cent
of them Jewish—from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. These
children were taken into foster homes and hostels in Britain, expecting
eventually to be reunited with their parents, though most of them
never saw their families again.” Kindertransport Website

Hayman, Eva. By the Moon and the
Stars. Random Century New Zealand Ltd, 1992.

A first person account of the
Kindertransport.

Hebrew University Contemporary
Jewry Oral History Collection : Part II, World War II, the Holocaust,
Resistance, and Rescue. New York Times Oral History Program.
Glen Rock, N.H. : Microfilming Corp. of America, 1975.

Hellman, Peter. Avenue of the
Righteous: Portraits in Uncommon Courage of Christians and the Jews
They Saved from Hitler. New York:
Atheneum, 1980; New York: Bantam Books, 1981.

Hellman uses a New Yorker-style
nonfiction approach to profile five rescuers, each from a different
European country. Out of print, but see next listing.

“This collection of selected primary sources showcases the stories of several of the so-called one thousand children-children brought to the United States between 1934 and 1945 in response to Hitler's policies of genocide....this excellent study is recommended for both public and academic libraries with Holocaust collections.”—Library Journal

Jens, Inge. (Ed.) At the Heart of
the White Rose: Letters and Diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl.
New York: Harper & Row, Pub., 1987.

Though not directly involved in
rescue attempts, the German White Rose group are notable for their
public opposition to the Nazi movement and it’s actions. “We will not
be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave
you in peace.”

Kahane was a
Ukrainian Jew who survived the Holocaust by having been taken in by an
archbishop, while his wife and daughter were hidden in convents.
Library Journal describes his memoir as “a book notable for its
intellectual and theological probing, its sensitive portraits of fellow
Jews and the decent Ukrainians who sheltered him.”

As he reaches
the age of fifty, Keizer finds himself in a “dark wood” regarding his
efforts throughout his life to be of help as a neighbor, husband,
father, schoolteacher, and priest. He works through his personal
conundrum by writing this brilliant (if sometimes a bit depressing)
extended essay that examines help in all its forms. Chapter Five is
devoted to Holocaust rescuers, and makes for rich yet informal philosophical
reading.

I admit, I'm a bit partial to this one, seeing as I wrote it. I'll allow Christopher R. Browning, who provides the foreward, to comment: "Like no other work I have read, Klempner's deeply moving book puts a human face on the Holocaust rescuers."

An authoritative treatment of
what was known by perpetrators, victims, and bystanders (including the
Vatican and the Allies) and what was done with that knowledge.
Laqueur's distinction between knowledge and information is pivotal to
understanding inaction.

A rescuer whose
story has just recently been documented, Sugihara issued thousands of
visas to enable Jews to escape to Japan. This fine biography is by a
sociologist who chaired the Judaic Studies department at Boston
University.

Lewy, Gunther. The
Catholic Church and Nazi Germany. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964.

This book
presents personal narratives of Italian rescuers and those they saved.
It also defends Pope Pius XII, by
claiming that the rescuers were acting under his
orders, or doing what he would have wanted them to do. Pius XII has
been severely criticized for his inaction during the Holocaust;
contrasting viewpoints to Marchione's can be found in such books as Under
His Very Windows (Zucotti), Constantine's Sword (Carroll), and The
Catholic Church and the Holocaust 1930-1965 (Phayer).

Marshall, R. In
the Sewers of Lvov. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1990.

Luba was a
Jewish woman who performed the almost unbelievable feat of rescuing,
hiding, and nurturing forty-six children intended for
death within the concentration camp where Anne Frank and
many other children died. This short illustrated book is
appropriate for young readers (ages 8 and up), as well
as adults.

Melchior, Marcus. A
Rabbi Remembers. New York: Lyle Stuart, 1968.

Meltzer, Milton. Rescue: The Story
of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust. New York: Harper
& Row, 1988.

Mendelsohn's highly acclaimed book about his search to find out how his great uncle and other relatives in the Ukraine died
during the Holocaust includes a story of an unsuccessful rescue attempted by the Catholic boyfriend
of one of the daughters.

A children's book about the
Holocaust that is both beautiful and deeply moving. Hiroki Sugihara was
five year's old, the eldest son of the Japanese consul to Lithuania,
when his father was faced with a grave decision: whether or not to
grant visas to Jewish refugees, against his government's explicit
orders. Through Hiroki's eyes, we too see the events of those crucial
days.

Described by
Publishers Weekly as a “dense but fascinating treatise on moral
psychology,” this book also includes interview transcripts with five
rescuers. Those wanting to understand
where the values and ethical thinking of the rescuers fits in with
currents of philosophical thought will find it especially valuable.

“Dimitar Peshev (1894-1973) is remembered as
the somewhat neglected Bulgarian hero who in 1943, as vice-president of
the National Assembly, stopped the deportation of the 48,000 Jews of
his country. After the War he was brought to trial by the Communists
and persecuted for the rest of his life.” For information on the man,
and the book, see the Peshev Memorial
and a report of the official commemoration.

A classic study of the social
psychology of rescuers and their values. Essential reading for those
interested in a more scientific approach toward understanding the
rescuers’ motivations.

Omer, Devorah. The Teheran
Operation: The Rescue of Jewish Children from the Nazis (Based on the
Biographical Sketches of David and Rachel Laor). [English
translation, Riva Rubin]. Washington, D.C.: B’nai B’rith Books, 1991.

Opdyke's bestselling memoir of the
Jews she saved in Poland is both a “thrilling adventure story” and also
an inspirational “drama of moral choice and courage.” Available in both
adult and juvenile editions, and suitable for 8th grade and up.

Orenstein, H. I
Shall Live. New York: Beaufort Books, 1987.

Orlev, V. The Man from the Other
Side. Translation by H. Halkin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
1991.

Paldiel, Mordecai. The Path of the
Righteous: Gentile Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. New
York: Ktav, 1993.

Using letters, dairies, and
official Church documents, Ramati recounts the story of Niccacci, the
Franciscan priest who with other Italian Catholic clergy helped to organize the
rescue of Jews during the German occupation.

“Writing in a clean, dramatic voice but with strict historical accuracy and nuanced analysis, Rigg details how, at the instigation of American Lubavitchers and some sympathetic officials in FDR's administration, highly placed German military men—including Helmut Wohlthat, an anti-Semitic aide to Göring who felt saving the rebbe would be a good public relations move, and Maj. Ernst Bloch, who had a Jewish father—conspired to spirit the ailing rebbe from Warsaw to Riga, and then Stockholm, where he sailed for New York.”—Publishers Weekly

The companion volume to the
award-winning documentary of the same name, this handsome introduction
to the rescuers consists of short personal narratives, photos, and brief essays by Elie Wiesel, and four others.

Rosenfeld, Harvey. Raoul
Wallenberg. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1995.

Roi, Emilie. A Different Story:
About a Danish Girl in World War Two. Dallas, Texas: Rossel Books,
1987.

Rochman, L. The Pit and the Trap: A
Chronicle of Survival. New York: Holocaust Library, 1983.

The author tells the story of his
grandfather, Myrtil Frank, who, like Otto Frank, was also a German Jew
that took his family into hiding in Holland. In contrast to the tragedy
that ensued with Otto’s family, all the members of Sanders’ family
survived the war. Sanders’ painstaking research results in a thorough
history of the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation, framed by the saga of his forbears in
hiding.

This novel tells the story of
seven escapees from a concentration camp. While it is a work of
fiction, it may still be of interest: Written in the late 30s-early
40s, and published in 1942, it was immediately translated and became a
big bestseller in a number of allied countries, including the U.S. It
was even printed in an “armed forces edition” for U.S. troops. An
English translation with a foreword by Kurt Vonnegut and an afterword
by Dorothy Rosenberg has recently been published by New York: Monthly
Review Press, 1987 as part of the Voices of Resistance series.

Scholl, Inge. Six Against
Tyranny. , translated from the German
by Cyrus Brooks. London:J. Murray, 1955.

Scholl, Inge. Students Against
Tyranny: The Resistance of the White Rose, Munich, 1942-1943. Translated
from the German by Arthur R. Schultz. Middletown, Conn., Wesleyan
University Press, 1970.

A slim yet incredibly powerful book that
recounts the brave lives of Hans and Sophie Scholl of the German
White Rose movement as remembered by their sister, Inge Scholl. Included is the text of the anti-Hitler leaflets they wrote and distributed, and for which they were executed by the Nazi authorities.

Written by a journalist for Der
Spielgel and translated from the German where it was more aptly titled “Silent Rebels,” this book
tells the story of the resistance in Belgium, and, in
its last third, the tale of three Belgian resisters who mounted a
guerilla attack on a train carrying 1,600 Jews to Auschwitz.

Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara
were responsible for saving an estimated 6,000 estimated
Jewish lives in the Holocaust. As with certain other diplomats who issued visas
to Jews, Chiune Sugihara acted against the direct orders of his
government in issuing visas, a decision which his government condemned him after the war. This book is a translation, privately published, of an account by Chiune's wife, Yukiko. Available from Edu-Comm. Plus (Hiroki
Sugihara) 236 West Portal Avenue #249, San Francisco, CA 94127.

“A touching account of the
Holocaust in Ukraine, during which many Jews were saved by Ukrainians.
. . . The book is a combination of oral history by real-life
participants of the Holocaust drama and the author's analysis of the
events, containing numerous photographs, letters, and poems dated from
the War times to the present day. This work is also remarkable for
publishing documents that were either kept secret or
made public in a distorted way by the Soviet government. The author,
Yakov Suslensky, is a Ukrainian Jew who lived through the
Holocaust. He was arrested and sentenced in 1970 to seven years of
concentration camps for his work to enforce the Declaration of Human
Rights in the USSR, labeled as ‘anti-Soviet propaganda.’” Available
from: Tanya
Puchkova, 20 College Dr., Roscommon, MI

Szpilman's memoir, suppressed by
the Polish government shortly after its publication in 1946, tells the
story of the young man's difficult survival in wartime Warsaw. The
power of music, provides Szpilman with the determination to go on and literally saves him several times.
This account also contains extracts from the diary of a German officer
who saved Szpilman's life. Captain Wilm Hosenfeld's extraordinary
reflections on the war, and the epilogue by German writer Wolf Bierman
describing the many times that Hosenfeld came to the aid of Jews and
Poles are fitting companions to Szpilman's memoir. More than half a century
later, it became an Academy Award-winning film.

Dr. Tec, a
sociologist at the University of
Connecticut, holds the special qualification of having herself been
hidden in Poland as a child during World War II. Her book is focused on
Christian rescuers in Poland, whom she interviewed and researched
assiduously.

Tec,
N. Dry Tears: The Story of a Lost Childhood. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1984.

Zegota was an
organization of Polish Jews and Christians which provided assistance
to Jews in Poland during the Holocaust. The book Zegota, written by
two women, a Jew and a Christian, contains many fascinating stories of
courage and humanity.

The story of the rescue of
thousands of Polish Jewish refugees, among whom were rabbis, yeshiva
students and pioneers (“Halutzim”), and of their rehabilitation in
Displaced Persons’ Camps. Rabbi Warhftig took an active part
in these rescue attempts while in Lithuania, Japan and China.

Dr. Werner, a
developmental psychologist and research professor at UC Davis, may have
written the definitive tome about the Danish rescue of the Jews. According to Publishers Weekly, it “offers a wealth of first-person
material, placed within a factually accurate, well-crafted text.”

Wolfe, J. Take Care of Josette: A
Memoir in Defense of Occupied France. New York: Franklin
Watts, 1981.

This book retells the exploits
of Jan Karski, a Roman Catholic member of the Polish underground resistance
movement during World War II who survived Soviet captivity and Gestapo
torture to bring his eyewitness account of the Nazi Holocaust to the
free world in 1942. Jan Karski eventually carried his message to top
Allied leaders, including U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Related Website):

An excellent
account of rescue efforts in Italy that saved
approximately 85% of the Jewish population. Historian Zucotti draws on
the testimony of scores of Italian survivors and their rescuers.

These bibliographies were orignally compiled by Mary Mark, who
maintained them until November 2000. They are now being
maintained by Mark Klempner. Links are chosen based on the quality and quantity of information they provide. If you know of better links, or have other suggestions, corrections, or addtions, please contact Mark.